Daughter’s 'hate' for mother’s killer
The daughter of a woman murdered by her former partner says she will “hate him to the day I die”.
Marion Millican was shot at close range in Portstewart in March 2011, in the launderette where she worked.
The mother of four was killed by her former partner Fred McClenaghan, just months after she split up with him because he tried to strangle her.
For years he denied murdering Marion, then changed his plea to guilty, days into a third retrial.
Last week he was handed to a minimum of 13 years in jail. Because of time already served he could be out in seven.
In her first television interview since sentencing, Marion’s daughter Suzanne said: “I will never forgive him, never. A lot of people have different beliefs and would be very forgiving, but no, I’ll hate him to the day I die.”
This case is one of a number featured tonight when Up Close returns with a special on domestic violence.
The Millicans also talk about their long fight for justice, with McClenaghan dragging them through the courts for years before finally admitting what everyone knew all along.
“He was quite prepared to go to any lengths to cover his tracks and get away with what he was planning to do. And he was making sure he had the stories well orchestrated and planned,’’ says Suzanne.
Asked by UTV Correspondent Sharon O’Neill if she thought McClenaghan took full advantage of the system, she replied: “He played it fantastically.
"He knows how to play the system, what to do and he was very much well schooled on that.”
The Up Close team asks why our laws to help protect victims of domestic violence in Northern Ireland, women and men, still lag behind the rest of the UK.
A new coercive control bill to help crackdown on emotional abuse within the home is not in place yet because there’s no Stormont.
District Judge Barney McElholm, who sits in the Magistrates' Court in Londonderry, is deeply unhappy about the situation.
Asked how many abusers are walking free because we don’t have this legislation, he tells Sharon: “Potentially thousands, tens of thousands.
"If there is no violence, then it is difficult to charge them with anything.
“I think it poses a question for those who govern us, why is this happening, why is this being allowed to happen? Why have we not done what other parts of the UK have done?’’
If you would are looking for advice regarding domestic abuse, you can find information by clicking here.
You can also contact the 24 hour domestic and sexual violence freephone helpline for support on: 0808 802 1414
Alternatively you can email: 24hrsupport@dvhelpline.org or text: 'support' to 07797805839